The earliest recorded mention of the celebration of Christmas was in Rome under the Emperor Commodus in 180 AD. It's thought that the first ever Christmas meal was eaten in 800 AD.

Up until 1573 the traditional festive meal included the boar's head. Turkey was first introduced in America. During Christmas in Ireland, turkey and goose are the most common meats eaten.

The tradition of giving presents at Christmas dates back to Roman times. Presents called 'strenae' were exchanged on lst January. Originally, these presents were branches of evergreen, but later people exchanged gifts of honey and cakes, so that the New Year might be full of sweetness and gold.

Many hundreds of years ago, when Roman soldiers came to England, it was the custom to make little clay pots which had slits that were just big enough to take a coin. These pots became known as boxes and, to get the money out, the clay box had to be broken.

In time these boxes came to be known as 'thrift boxes' and in time too the custom started of making the boxes in the shape of a pig, because unlike a sheep or a cow, a pig is of no use to man until it's killed. With the development of the Christmas tradition of giving, the presents of money at Christmas became known as Christmas boxes.